Danger signal



F. SHUMAN.

DANGER SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 23, 1916.

1,420, 845. l Patent-ed Jun@ 20, 1922.

@Img UNITED STA-Tes PATENT oFrlcE.

FRANK SHUMAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA; Y. JOSEPHINE SII-IUMANv AND CHARLES H. DUNKER, ADMINISTRATORS OF'THE ESTATE l0]? SAID FRANK SHU- MAN, DECEASED, ASSIGNORS T0 LOUIS J'. KOLB, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, TRADING AS SAFETEE GLASS'COIVIFANY. y

DANGER SIGNAL.

Maaate.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application kfiled March 23, 1916;" Serial No. 86,175.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SHUMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Danger Signals, of which ,the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a construction of signal sign and light which shall be especially suitable for railroad crossing gates or the like, in which, when the gate is closed, the danger signal will be shown in the form of an illuminated danger sign, preferably of a red transparency with whitev or clear letters, such as Stop or Danger thereon; and which, when the gate is open, will bring into View a clear or white light and remove the illumination from the red or danger sign, so that the same is practically invisible at night. In this way, automobile drivers approaching a railroad crossing can quickl discern the condition of the gate and can epend upon the red danger or white safety light signals, since their respective presence is dependent upon whether the gate is down or up and are essentially automatic in their showing.

With the usual practice at the present time of hanging a red lantern upon the gate, the driver of an automobile, traveling at a relatively high speed, not knowing that a railroad crosslng is at hand, is liable to takethe signal as indicating a hole or defect in the roadway, and in merely swerving aside to avoid the supposed hole, crashes into the gate. By my invention there can be no mistake, for the red lighted sign is large and with clearly readable words indicating danger and could not be mistaken for a small lantern; whereas when the gate is open, the red li ht has disappeared and a high positione white light alone is visible, acting as a caution signal.

My invention consists in forming the danger sign transparency of relatively nonbreakable construction by forming it of a metal frame in which is fastened a sign made of an integral structure comprisingv two sheets of glass united by aninterpose layer of celluloid firmly uniting `the glass sheets and preferably containing the color and letters to be illuminated, the Celluloid acting to hold the glass together even if it should be cracked by flying missiles or other cause. My invention further consists'in the construction of the transparency of greater width than the lantern which is associated with it for illuminating purposes, and in so forming the lantern that it not only sends' direct rays through the transparency, but also oblique reflected rays so that the' entire width of the'transparency is illuminated.

The invention also comprehends other features of 4construction which, together with those above specified, are hereinafter set out and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a railroad crossing gate in closed position and having my danger'sign applied thereto; Fig. 2 is the same gate when in raised or open condition; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vlew of a part of the gate, having my invention applied thereto, looking from the rear or railroad side; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same, takenv on line as of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section plan view of the lamp; Figs. 6 and 7 are views corresponding to the closed and open gate positions and showing a modification of my invention; and Fig. 8. is an edge view of the indestructible sign transparency.

2 is the vgate arm -and maybe p ivotedupon the standard or gear box 3 and adapt-vl ed to be raised or lowered as in any of the railroad crossing gates heretofore in use. Near the free end of the gateis secured the danger transparency 4, which is preferably of a construction fixedly attached on the arm 2; and back of this transparency is a lantern 5, hung from a supporting bracket or arm 6, whereby it may swing back of the transparency when the gate is down, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and to one side of the transparency into full view when the gate is raised, as in Fig. 2. To enable this swinging of the lantern from a position back of the transparency when the gate is down and to a 4position to one side of the transparency when the gate is raised, it is necessary to provide the hinge or pivot 6 for the lantern 5 to a point to one side of thev Patented aan@ 20,1922. I

`of the lantern so that when the gate is but I' have shown a construction by way of example 'which I deem well suited for the commercial application of my invention. As shown, there is a rectangular frame 4 formed of angle iron7, and this frame-work has the extensions 8 which are bolted at 9 to the gate timber 2, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The transparency 10 is clamped in position upon the angle iron 7 of the frame 4 by means of angle-iron clamping strips 7a held in position by screws 7b or otherwise, as preferred.' The transparency may be simply a piece of red glass with or without words, such as Stop, the glass being suitably embedded in putty or otherwise within the metal frame. In the preferred construction of transparency, I make it of two layers of glass 12 with an intermediate layer of celluloid 11, the latter by having its surfaces heated and compressed be'- tween the two outer layers of glass forming a union between the latter to provide a composite transparency which is practically indestructible under any normal usage, and which if cracked will not fall out of the frame. The outer glass plates 12 may be transparent white rolled plate, and the cel; luloid lmay be red or coloredto suit the requirements. Moreover, the celluloid may be printed or stained or otherwise formed with the word Stop, or any other suitable word, formed without color so that the light shining through the transparency will give the desired ground color with the transparent word. It is manifest that the word may be the colored portion and the rest of the celluloid or intermediate binder may be transparent without color. It'will also be understood that while thecelluloid acts as a binder between the two glass plates 12, the color may be in one of the glass plates just as if a red glass were employed by itself, and with theword ground thereon so as to have it appear as white letters upon a red ground. I do not limit myself to any of these particular changes in the form of the transparency. nor to the use of celluloid as distinguished from some other binding means between the glass such as gelatin, but in 'all cases the transparency is to indicate the danger when the-.lightshines through it.

\ The lantern 5 may be of any suitable con! struction and provided on the inside with suitable reflecting surfaces 15 and at front with a glass door 16, the construction being such that the light through the lamp 14- may send forth direct rays as well as reflected, rays, and these rays may take such angles as to completely illuminate, the wider transparency 10. It is evident that the lantern should set back some little dist-ance from thev transparency, as indicated for example in Fig. 4, so that the extreme lateral portions of the transparency are fully illuminated, and moreover, the window 16 of the lantern must face the back of the transparency. The means of suspending the lantern may be of any suitable construction; that shown by way of example comprising links 13 jointed to the lantern at its medial plane at front and back, and are hinged upon the horizontal arm 6 which is arranged above and back of the frame 4 for the transparency. As shown in Fig. 4, this arm 6 is formed of a rod which is welded upon the top of the frame 4 and is bent upward and rearward. It is immaterial how the 4hinged support 6 may be attached to the gate 2 so long as it bears a proper relation to the transparency to enable the lantern to properly swing from a position back of the transparency when the gate is down to a position to one side of the transparency when the gate is raised. The glass front 16 of the lantern may be of ordinary plain glass, or if desired it maybe of a compound glass such as the transpar--` ency but of plain .glass so as to merely be substantially non-destructible but not imparting any color.

As a modification of the general construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in whichl the ltransparency is held rigidly upon the gate 2, I have shown both the transparency and the lantern hinged, the swinging capacity of the lantern being materially less than the transparency so as to cause them to separate when the gate is raised, as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. In this construction the gate 2 is provided with a bracket 6a to which the lantern 5 is hinged by the links 13 just about the same as in the previous case. The transparency 4a, however, is also hinged by the links 17, the pivotal point being further from the gate 2 than the pivotal point of the links 13 of the lantern. When the gate is down as in Fig. 6, the lantern 5 will be in the same horizontal level as the transparency 4a and hence will illuminate it, but when the gate is raised, as in Fig. 7, not only does the lantern swing but the transparency 4a also swings so that these two parts are out of the same horizontal alinement, and as there is no illumination of the transparency it is not observed at night, whereas the white light ofthe lantern will come into full view.

The-re. are many ways of modifying the details of construction to suit them to special applications, but by way of example I have shown the preferred construction as applied to an ordinary railroad crossing gate. It will also be understood-that while it is desirable when the gatel is raised to remove the illumination from the danger signal transparency .and bring the white light into view-7 it is not essential that the white light shalll be brought into view as the invention may be confined to illumination and non-illumination of the danger signal transparency alone. It will also be apparent-that the general construction and relation of the danger signal transparency and the lantern may be employed without the swinging feature of the gate, but this would relate to conditions where constant danger was alwayspresent; that is to say, for places which were not thoroughfares.

It will now be apparent that I' have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enum'erated as desirable, and ,while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a danger signal, the combination of a. reinforced danger signal transparency consisting of two sheets ofglass secured together by an interposed binding sheet of adhering material, a metal frame in which the transparency is secured about its perimeter, and a lantern for illuminating the transparency from one side.

2. In a danger signal, the combination of a reinforced danger signal transparency consisting of two sheets of plain glass secured together by an interposed binding sheet of adhering material of a translucent character having therein the danger color, a metal frame in which the transparency is secured `4. A compound transparency of glass reinforced with celluloid, comprising two sheets of plain glass securedtogether upon an interposed uniting sheet of celluloid, said sheet of Celluloid having a portion of its body formed of pronounced color 'and another adjacent portion of relatively clear character.

5. In a danger signal, the combination of a rectangular frame of metal, a glass transparency having color for indicating danger held inv the rectangular frame said transparency of greater width than height, an

arm extending from the rectangular frame upwardly and backwardly, and a lantern suspended from the arm and having a glass front facing the rear ofthe transparency and arranged at a distance from the transparency said-lantern'of less width than the width of the transparency and provided with obliquely arranged reflectors.

6. In a danger signal, the combination of a transparency formed with color and having a signal word, with a lantern arranged considerably to the rear of thegtransparency and of less width than the width thereof,

said lantern having a reflecting part and a transparent front facing Athe transparency whereby the rays of light shallbe thrown forward and obliquely in lateral directions through the transparency to fully illuminate its entire width. 1

In testimony of which invention, I here# unto set my hand.

`FRANK SHUMAN.

Witnesses:

ROSE WORRALL,

ADELAIDE B. WATsoN. 

